The following blog was sent over to me by Bailey from Redfin. I thought this was layered with lots of good recommendations for practicing, playing, and recording music at home. I hope you find it useful!

The Science of Soundproofing: Simple Tips for the Musician’s Home

Whether you’re married to a musician, raising one or are a musical master yourself, the noise of even a well-played instrument can impact your roommates, neighbors, or family. Even playing all the way across the house may not be far enough to muffle the sound, and things could be a lot worse if you’re in a small condo. There has to be a way to strike a balance between peace and quiet and the sound of music. Luckily, soundproofing a room — or even a few — can be a fairly simple DIY project to save not only your eardrums but also your sanity.

Not sure where to start? Not to worry! This how-to guide will give you three easy steps to soundproof your space. Plus, learn to transform a guest room into a home recording studio.

Soundproofing a Room in Three Easy Steps

Simple Soundproofing Step One: Mind the Gaps

Take a look around the room and keep an eye out for any gaps in door and window frames. A lot of sound can escape through even a small gap.

· Reduce door gaps: Adding a door sweep on both the inside and the outside of the door can help reduce sound travel.

· Cover the windows: You can hang thick curtains over windows, or seal leaks with budget-friendly foam weather stripping or professional-grade acoustical sealant.

· Line heating/cooling ducts: Don’t forget to line your heating and cooling ducts with soundproofing duct liner to further reduce noise.

Simple Soundproofing Step Two: Reduce Reflection

Did you know that sound, like light, reflects? Sound can bounce off of any number of surfaces, which can propel the notes and beats of an instrument pretty far. If the room you’ve chosen as your practice area has any hard surfaces, like granite countertops, hardwood floors or even just plain old walls, sound will reverberate until it runs out of energy, which means it can hit multiple surfaces over and over again.

How can you soundproof against reflection?

· Bring in some textiles! Cover the floor with carpeting or thick rugs, and even consider hanging some material from the walls.

· Install soundproof materials: There are all kinds of soundproofing materials out there, some more effective — and more costly — than others. You can install soundproof curtain around the perimeter of the room, tack up vinyl or install acoustic insulation.

· Avoid cheap alternatives: Considering a cheaper option like adding mattresses or egg crates to the walls? Skip them. Not only are they unsightly, but they are ineffective, as well.

Simple Soundproofing Step Three: Modify Your Space

Let’s say you live in a 1,000-square foot loft downtown and want to be sure your evening jam sessions don’t disrupt the neighbors. Being a good neighbor might mean you have to make some adjustments on your end.

· Avoid shared walls: Play your musical instruments in a room that doesn’t share any walls with your neighbors or position yourself closer to the outside walls.

· Add a false ceiling: You can consider adding a false ceiling to give some relief to the upstairs neighbors and replace your hollow doors with solid, heavy core ones. If you hit a major chord and notice some shaking picture frames, vases or other objects, remove them or secure them.

· Consider a shed or garage: If you live in a 2,000-square foot house and want to keep your drums from waking the baby, consider moving your equipment to the other side of the house, going out into the garage or renovating a tool shed in the backyard.

Setting Up a Simple Studio in a Small Space

Why settle for just playing around when you can really tap into your musical genius with a home studio? If you’re into composing, playing and recording, you might be ready to turn that unused guest room into a simple recording studio. Along with our other soundproofing tips, which will keep noise from escaping, you’ll also want to focus on acoustic treatment options so the music that stays in sounds the best. Single set-up studios can be simple and more cost-effective, but you’ll want to consider these tips and tricks for keeping your sound just right:

· Cancel feedback from electrical equipment by putting items like amps as far away from microphones as possible.

· Don’t completely eliminate all sound reflection: Leave a few spots open and treat them with diffusers so the natural frequency of your music isn’t lost.

· Think about highand low-end sound absorption: Most of your reflection treatments will tackle the high frequency reflections, but you’ll want to install a few bass traps in order to dampen the sound for lower frequencies.

· Plan for power: Be sure to have plenty of outlets, and make sure all of them are the right wattage for your equipment.

· Think seasonally: When the July high temperatures hit, will the sound of the air conditioning clicking on and blowing into your studio become background noise?

· Arrange it right: Even if you’re playing solo, be sure to arrange your studio to accommodate the number of musicians who could play at one time in the space. If you host other artists down the road, this will make it easier to plan out and arrange your recording stations to maximize the best sound for the number of people who will be there at once.

· Maximize your equipment: When dealing with small spaces, you also should examine how to maximize your equipment so that you have more room and fewer things for sound to bounce off of. It’s time to embrace the digital age! You can use digital instruments to keep the clutter to a minimum and, when appropriate and affordable, try using compact equipment.

Music is an incredible hobby for some, and a way of life for others. Not only will soundproofing your home help keep the peace in your family and with your neighbors, but it will also teach you some of the more scientific elements of sound and music that you may not experience just by playing an instrument. Whether to please your landlord or pacify your family, soundproofing can help you get more in touch with the instruments you love to play and the music you love to create.

This month I will be rolling out the 29th Century Guitar Academy Levels! The idea was to create various goals to help students stay on track with the essential materials I teach at the studio.

So far there are about 14 levels. In the beginning this will be optional, but strongly recommended as it will help me keep track of progress as well as give students important milestones to strive for. There will be rewards and recognition for those who participate. The best part is that every single student can incorporate this program into their every day routine!

Stay tuned for more on this soon as I roll everything out! If you have any thoughts or questions, please comment or send me an email!

29th Century Guitar is an established guitar and music studio that provides tailored private and group guitar lessons to all levels of students. To learn more, please visit www.29thcenturyguitar.com

Curious about different types of distortion pedals and how they affect your guitar tone? Check out this cool article written by Pete Thorn, a session player who's worked with Melissa Etheridge, Chris Cornell and other big names. The article is a little involved, but has some great info.

I really enjoy his articles and videos on guitar gear since I'm a "guitar nerd" myself. If you have any questions regarding this article or about guitar gear in general, just ask! Find the full article HERE!

29th Century Guitar is an established guitar and music studio that provides tailored private and group guitar lessons to all levels of students. To learn more, please visit www.29thcenturyguitar.com

There are so many great apps out there for guitar players these days, and today I'd like to share with you a few of my favorites that I use all the time on my iPhone and iPad. Note: to use Garageband and ToneStack described below, you will need a way to interface with your device. I use the Line 6 Sonic port found here.

Tempo Advance: This is the metronome app I use to keep time. However, there are many other advanced features that can help you take your practicing to the next level. Check it out here.

Garageband:Just like the same application found on Apple computers, Garageband is an easy-to-use recording program. It's great for getting your ideas down or recording full songs. It's even got built-in amp simulation so you don't need a mic to get going. Check it out here.

ToneStack:Just like Garageband, this app has built-in amps and effects for electric guitar. However, this one has more options and sounds particularly great in my opinion. Check it out here.

Tempo Slow:This app lets you slow down music files that you have on your device. This is a great way to learn more challenging songs that are maybe a little too fast for you current playing level. I also use this to transcribe particularly fast or difficult passages from songs. Check it out here.

Figure:This is a fun app that you can make electronic drum beats on. There are a lot of cool drum sounds and I have used some of them to create my own music. Check it out here.

29th Century Guitar is an established guitar and music studio that provides tailored private and group guitar lessons to all levels of students. To learn more, please visit www.29thcenturyguitar.com

Have you ever wondered why guitar makers use all different types of wood? You may have never thought about it, but depending on what materials are used, the guitar will actually have a different sound, look, feel and weight. With no prior experience it's difficult to notice these things, but once you start experiencing various guitars you will be able to see and hear the differences.

Click HERE to get a quick introduction to what we call 'tonewoods' in this great article written by Dave Hunter. Hopefully you'll find it informative!

29th Century Guitar is an established guitar and music studio that provides tailored private and group guitar lessons to all levels of students. To learn more, please visit www.29thcenturyguitar.com

The Fishman TriplePlay is another really cool product to check out if you're in the market for something that's going to add a new dimension to your playing. It's a MIDI pickup system for your guitar that's recently become more and more popular. This affordable pickup allows you to interface with your computer to play software instruments (like piano, strings, synths, etc) and record. It even comes with notation software so you can play notes or chords and it will transcribe it for you. This is all done wirelessly via bluetooth!

I'm super excited about what this thing can do and hope to add it to my arsenal soon. Check it out HERE if you are interested in learning more.

29th Century Guitar is an established guitar and music studio that provides tailored private and group guitar lessons to all levels of students. To learn more, please visit www.29thcenturyguitar.com

Did you know that 29th Century Guitar has a Youtube channel? I've posted a bunch of videos highlighting different skills and techniques that can help you while practicing at home. Check out this video HERE where I give a lesson on string skipping. This is a basic skill, but can be a difficult one to master. I've introduced a good way to start practicing it that you'll see in the video.

If you like the lesson, you can find more Quick Tips and Quick Riffs videos on the channel. AND if you'd like a custom video made specifically for you, get in touch!

29th Century Guitar is an established guitar and music studio that provides tailored private and group guitar lessons to all levels of students. To learn more, please visit www.29thcenturyguitar.com

If you love guitar gear as much I do, you'll appreciate Premiere Guitar's Rig Rundown video series. In the series you're able to "go behind the scenes" and actually see what artists are using on tour. If you've ever been curious about what certain bands use or just live rigs in general, definitely check these videos out. I'm a huge fan myself!